This companion novel to To Kill a Mockingbird was published this past summer amidst controversy surrounding its discovery and contrary reviews. Now you can read it for yourself. Two copies available in the leisure reading section located on Sackler 4.

Including MeSH terms in a PubMed search can help you get more precise results.

What is MeSH? Most of the more than 25 million citations in PubMed come from MEDLINE, the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) journal citation database. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a controlled vocabulary of standardized terms that indexers (actual humans!) apply to each article in MEDLINE to describe the publication type and topics covered in the article.

Why should you care about MeSH? Biomedical topics are often expressed in different ways. For example, chronic kidney disease may also be called end-stage renal disease, chronic renal failure, or abbreviated as ESRD. The MeSH term for this condition is kidney failure, chronic. Using MeSH terms in a PubMed search helps you find articles regardless of how an author referred to that topic. MeSH terms also allow you to search on all concepts in a broad category without having to enter every term. MeSH headings are arranged in a hierarchy of broader and narrower terms; when you search a broader term, all the narrower terms are automatically included in your search. For example, the MeSH term for cancer, neoplasms, can be used to search for all types of cancer.

How do I find MeSH terms? When you conduct a search in PubMed, the database will try to match your terms to MeSH headings in a process called automatic term mapping. To see how the PubMed translated your search, look for a box labeled ‘Search Details’ in the right column on the results page (you will need to scroll down the page). You can also search the MeSH database directly by choosing ‘MeSH’ from the dropdown menu to the left of the PubMed search box. See this example of the term meningitis in the MeSH database: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68008581.

Whether orientation is a recent or distant memory, here are a few tips on the resources and spaces available at the library:

Finding Books at Tufts: We have a lot of books, both in print and electronically. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to find these books. When you want to know whether or not the library has a specific book, search the library catalog (http://library.tufts.edu/) by title, author or course reserves (a few books are on reserve for Sackler courses). If a book is located at another Tufts library, then you can request that it be delivered to the Hirsh Health Sciences Library by clicking the ‘Request Item’ button at the top of the catalog record. You will be notified when the book is ready for you retrieve at our library. While e-books will appear in the library catalog, you can also browse our e-book collections (http://www.library.tufts.edu/hsl/resources/ebalpha.html).

Study Rooms: Study rooms are located on the 5th, 6th and 7th floors of the Sackler building. Study rooms on the 5th floor may be reserved for groups of two or more people. Study rooms on the other two floors are available on a first come, first served basis with precedence given to groups. To make a reservation for the 5th floor study room, see: http://tufts.libcal.com/booking/hhsl.

Computers: Public computers are located on the 4th and 5th floors of Sackler. In addition, two computer labs, also located on the 5th floor, are available for use when not occupied by a class. Laptops, both Macs and PCs, are available for check out at the Library Service Desk. Software installed on library computers includes: Adobe products (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, etc.), MatLab, SAS, SPSS and Stata. Complete list of software on library computers: http://www.library.tufts.edu/hsl/computing/softinlibrary.html.

Software: Visit the Tufts Technology Services Help Desk on the 5th floor of Sackler to get software installed on your personal computer. Complete list of available software: https://it.tufts.edu/soft. Unfortunately, Adobe software is not available for installation on students’ personal computers, and Adobe only offers a student discount on their Creative Cloud Complete package.

From the publisher: “Provides an authoritative, detailed and clear explanation of QbD [Quality by Design] principles and its applications/implications for the development and commercialization of biopharmaceutical drug product for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Demonstrates how QbD is used for formulation development ranging from screening of formulations, to developability assessment, to development of lyophilized and liquid formats.”

And leisure…

Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men, by John A. Rich

Location: On order for Hirsh Health Sciences Library

Each year, Tufts University School of Medicine and Tisch College choose a Common Book for incoming medical students. This year’s selection, Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men, is authored by John Rich, Professor at the Drexel University School of Public Health and former medical director of the Boston Public Health Commission. Dr. Rich also worked as a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, where he created and directed the Young Men’s Health Clinic. An author presentation and discussion is scheduled for Wednesday, October 7th from 1-2 PM in the Sackler Auditorium. Multiple copies of this book are on order for the Hirsh Health Sciences Library, so check the library catalog.

Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation, by Eboo Patel

Location: HHSL Book Stacks E 184 M88 P38 2010

A Common Book is also selected for the incoming undergraduate students. Multiple copies of this year’s selection are currently available at the library.

Use the ‘PubMed@Tufts’ link to access PubMed from either on or off campus. This will enable you to easily access full text articles available through Tufts Libraries. When you wish to access the full text of an article in PubMed, click on the title of the article and look for the blue ‘Find It@Tufts’ button at the top of the column on the right side of the page. This will either bring you directly to the article or to a page where you can search for the journal in our library catalog.

Hello! I am the new liaison librarian to the Sackler School, Laura Pavlech. I joined Hirsh Health Sciences Library in May of this year. I am excited to return to Tufts, where I attended veterinary school, and work with the health sciences students, faculty and staff. You may be wondering what a librarian can do for you. I think of my job as helping people find, organize and use the resources available to them at Tufts and beyond… here are a few examples of the types of questions that I can answer:

Find journal articles: Whether you are investigating a new topic or preparing to write the introduction section of your thesis, I can help you choose which databases to use, and construct a good search strategy.

Find protocols & methods: Have you been asked to use a technique about which you know nothing? I can show you where to find books, journals and videos devoted to in-depth descriptions of scientific protocols and methods.

Find chemical & drug information: Want to find property data, similar molecules or patents for a chemical compound? I can direct you to the best resources for chemical and drug information, and teach you how to search these resources.

Find data & health statistics: Do you need to find a data set to utilize in your research, or health statistics to support a grant proposal? I can assist you in locating publicly available data sets and health statistics.

Organize your citations: Learn how to use a citation manager, such as EndNote or RefWorks, to store references and journal articles, and insert formatted citations into Word documents.

Establish your research identity: I can show you how to find journal Impact Factors, citation counts, and other metrics that can help you demonstrate the impact of your work to funders and prospective employers.

Maintain compliance with funder public access policies: What are public access policies, does my funder have a public access policy, and when I publish, what do I need to do to comply with these policies?

There is a lot of information out there and more is being created every day. Part of becoming a good scientist is learning how to find and use the information that you need in an efficient and effective manner. I (hopefully!) can help you do that:

Office hours: Beginning August 31st, I will have weekly office hours for which you can either schedule an appointment or just drop by. My office is located on 6th floor of the Sackler building.

Scheduled consultations: You can contact me via phone (617-636-0385) or email (pavlech@tufts.edu) to schedule an appointment at a time that is convenient for you.